


Love Is For Children

by books_are_painkillers



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Black Widow - Freeform, Established Relationship, F/M, Hawkeye - Freeform, Injury, Injury Recovery, Love, Mission Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 15:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17645129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/books_are_painkillers/pseuds/books_are_painkillers
Summary: The Avengers go on a mission, but Natasha has to stay behind as she is still not cleared for the field because of an injury from the last mission. Then Clint gets hurt and Phil has to try and keep her in bed while they wait for the Avengers to come back without knowing what happened.





	Love Is For Children

Natasha had been in surgery when Coulson got the message. “Barton's down, we're trying to get him back to base as fast as possible, could take some time though”, he heard Stark's voice through the comm. “How long do you think you'll need?” “Don't know, five to six hours minimum”, Stark answered. “Well you better hurry up because I would prefer him to be here when Romanoff wakes up from surgery in three hours” “I'll try my best”, Stark answered and Coulson could hear mumbling from the other Avengers before he turned the comms off again and left the room, letting the junior agent get back in his spot in the control room. He went to the medical wing, hoping that a miracle would come and he would be needed somewhere far away before Romanoff woke up from surgery and found out that her partner had been injured in the latest mission in which she couldn't participate because she'd been hurt too badly in the mission before. 

 

She was currently in her second surgery, one week after the injury. She had broken her leg in multiple places and even Romanoff couldn't walk this off. Coulson knew how much she hated laying around while her team mates went to a battle without her, and if she found out Barton had been injured but nobody knew how bad it was or even what it was, everybody who could should bring themselves to safety as fast as possible. He sat down in the waiting area of the medical wing again, he had promised Barton to wait for his partner while she was in surgery when he went to Asia to fight alongside the Avengers minus Romanoff. Coulson didn't know what exactly was going on between the assassins, and he didn't really care either. It was their thing, after all.

 

Two hours later the surgeon stepped out of the room in front of him. “The surgery went well”, he informed Coulson. “She will be awake in about an hour, but she won't be cleared to go into the field for at least another month, even if she heals as quickly as she does. Will Barton be here when she wakes up? I really don't want to be the one telling her this”, he said, only half joking. “Well there's the issue”, Coulson told the man who'd been Romanoff's medic ever since she came to SHIELD. He was about the only medic she trusted around here and he knew her very well by now, which was probably why he didn't want to be the one telling her that she wouldn't be able to go into the field for quite a while. “I just got the information that Barton's been injured, I don't even know what state he's in and I don't think they'll be here before she wakes up. But I will sacrifice myself and tell her both when she wakes up”, he said with a sigh. The doctor nodded at him. “I will prepare everything for Agent Barton's arrival, then”, he said and left. 

 

Coulson went into Romanoff's room. She looked very peaceful while she was asleep, you couldn't see that she could kill people without any effort and in more ways that should be possible. He sat down in a chair a few feet away from her bed, having learned from past experiences that you shouldn't be too close to her when she woke up. After 20 minutes, he remembered something and went outside to stop a nurse who was walking past the room. “Excuse me”, he said. “Could you please find Dr. Carlsen and ask him to be on stand-by with a medium-heavy sedative? He'll know why”. The nurse nodded and took off to look for the doctor, and Coulson went back to Romanoff's room, hoping for the impossible to happen and prayed that Stark would make it back to basis in time.

 

Natasha shifted. Coulson's eyes shot up to her, just in time to see her wake up completely and go into defence mode immediately. He put his hands up. “It's me, Phil. Don't worry, nobody else is here, I've been here ever since you got out of surgery”. Natasha nodded slowly, relaxing. “How'd it go?”, she mumbled. “Everything went well, you should heal fully soon. However, your body took a heavy hit and it will need time to heal”. Natasha nodded again, then she said, clearly this time: “And what aren't you telling me?”. Coulson looked at the clock, then he cleared his throat, trying to win time. “Just say it”, she urged him. “Well, I just got a call from Stark.. Clint's been injured”, he rose from his chair and stepped closer to her, ready to grab the emergency button next to her bed. “We don't know what happened, but Stark's trying his best to get them here as fast as possible.” “When?”, she asked, panic starting to appear on her face. “About three hours ago”, Coulson answered firmly. “And you're telling me now?”, Natasha asked. “You were in surgery, Natasha, and there was nothing you could've done about it anyway! I'll let you know when he's here and what exactly happened, I promise” “I want to wait for him outside”, Natasha said. “Natasha, you just woke up from surgery! You need to rest, I can't do that! Plus, there's no way I'll let you walk an hour after you had surgery on your leg” “Don't even try to act like you could stop me, Phil”, Natasha said, not bothering to hide the threat in her voice. “Look, how about you stay in the room and I will go to the control room and instruct them to inform me as soon as they land and then I will get you outside in a wheelchair so you will be able to see him”. Natasha nodded reluctantly, obviously unhappy about the situation. “Fine. I will go to the control room now and bring a wheelchair on my way back, and you will drink this bottle of water and I will get some food for you?” “Okay”, Natasha agreed and took the water bottle from Coulson. 

 

After making her promise him to stay in bed until he was back, Coulson went to the control room, ordering a junior agent to inform him as soon as Stark's plane hit the ground and then to the cafeteria, there was a woman that liked Romanoff, she was one of the few that weren't scared to death around her. He persuaded her to make Romanoff a little snack, knowing how much she hated the food she got in the medical wing and aware that Barton got her food whenever she was there. Coulson picked up a wheelchair on his way back to her room, explaining the situation to Dr. Carlsen who assured him that they were prepared for whatever state Agent Barton was in.

 

When he came back into Romanoff's room, she was looking at him very unhappy. “I need to use the bathroom”, she announced as soon as he walked through the door. “And I'm very happy that you actually stayed in bed”, he said looking at the empty bottle. He helped her sit up and half-carried her to the bathroom where he politely turned around while she used the toilet and helped her back to the bed afterwards. Once Natasha sat in her bed again, Coulson gave her the snack the cafeteria woman had prepared and laid the old-fashioned walkie talkie on the nightstand. Upon her critical look, he explained: “Thought you'd like to hear it too when they arrive”. She shot a little smile at him, a rare and genuine one. He smiled back and they stayed silent while she ate and waited for the team to get back. 

 

“I need to get dressed”, Natasha stated after a couple of minutes. Coulson looked at her. She was still wearing the surgery gown. He nodded and looked around the room as if clothes would magically appear out of nowhere if he hoped hard enough. “I put some spare clothes in the wardrobe”, Natasha said. Coulson got up and opened the wardrobe. There lay a pair of sweatpants that couldn't be hers, they were far too big for her, and a hoodie he didn't recognise. He took both and returned to her bed, handing her both and opening the surgery gown. Then he turned around while she changed and sat down in his chair while they fell back into silence once again.

 

After three long hours of waiting – in the end Coulson had feared that Romanoff would jump out of the window to get her partner herself – the walkie talkie rustled and then he heard the voice of the junior agent. “Sir, Mr. Stark's plane lands as I'm speaking. Over”. Natasha nearly threw herself out of the bed while Coulson picked up the walkie talkie and answered: “Thank you, agent. Over”. Then he stopped Natasha and helped her get into the wheelchair, propping her injured leg up and pushing her out of the room and to the entrance as quick as possible. He could tell she was nervous by the way she fiddled with her fingers, but by the time they arrived, she had put on her masks again, not letting any of that nervousness show. 

 

The doors slid open and revealed a very exhausted looking Tony Stark. Behind him where two medics with a stretcher on which Barton laid. Natasha tried to get up but Coulson held her back, pushing her behind the medics and out of the public space instead. As soon as they arrived in the room, the medics lifted Barton onto an examination table. Dr. Carlsen leant over him immediately and started checking him while Coulson put Natasha somewhere she wouldn't be in the way and stepped outside to ask the team about what happened. “They were far more than we expected, and one blast hit Birdie from behind”, Stark explained. “Tell Romanoff the guy isn't alive anymore”, he added. “We tried our best to get home as fast as possible, but we can only go so fast”, Bruce said apologetically. “Well, I'm still alive”, Coulson answered. “I'll go back inside to inform Dr. Carlsen of what happened”. 

 

The doctor nodded. “It's looking worse than it actually is. It was probably the force of the hit that took Agent Barton out, but he will heal quickly. I already cleaned out the wound and stitched him up, but he took a nasty hit to the head when he fell, so I've given him a sedative. He will wake up in about half an hour, I'll put him in a surveillance room for now. You can go with him”, he said to Natasha, who didn't look like she'd planned anything else. She nodded and let Coulson push her into the room with Barton. He put her right next to Barton's bed and left them alone, informing the team of the situation. Everyone except for Banner left. When Coulson shot him a questioning look, he explained: “I thought you may have stuff to do, and I can take over the babysitting for the rest of the day. They should be easy to handle now”. Coulson nodded appreciatively and left.

 

About an hour later, Bruce quietly checked up on them. Natasha had hauled herself up on Clint's bed and kissed him. Bruce had always assumed that they had some kind of sexual relationship. They didn't seem to have noticed her, so he stayed at the door. When he thought that things got a little more heated, he pulled back, even though he didn't think of it as a good idea considering the state the two of them were in. But instead, Natasha pulled back and whispered: “I was really fucking worried about you”. Bruce stopped. There was an undertone in her voice, one he would love to hear from her when they talked after a mission. He couldn't deny that he found Natasha very attractive and he would trade places with Barton anytime. But he suddenly felt like he had underestimated their relationship. He'd always thought that they fucked, but just to blow off steam after a mission and come down from the adrenaline. “Don't do that to me ever again”, she continued. “I thought you'd died when Coulson looked at me like this after I woke up. You scared me to death” “I promise, next time you're off the field I won't go on a mission”, Clint answered just as quietly. “I'm sorry for scaring you” “Just don't do it ever again”, Natasha whispered and laid her head on Clint's chest. Bruce thought they had fallen asleep when he heard Natasha whisper again, barely audible. “You know I love you, right?”. Clint stopped the soothing motion he had fallen into, gently rubbing Natasha's back. “Yes, I know”, he answered just as quiet and kissed Natasha's forehead. Bruce closed the door as quietly as possible, not wanting to watch them in such an intimate moment. 

 

He was kind of shocked about finding out how close they actually were but on the other hand, it had been quite obvious looking back. They always had each other's back, if one got injured in the field the other one would get to them without even bothering to protect themselves, which Bruce had always found quite odd considering how careful they were. He shrugged his shoulders and went back into the waiting area, trying not to think about it too much. They were just human, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote that very spontaneously at around 4am last night because I felt the sudden urge to write fluff. Still not an English native so I apologise for any mistakes.


End file.
